אֵיכָה יָשְׁבָה בָדָד הָעִיר רַבָּתִי עָם הָיְתָה כְּאַלְמָנָה רַבָּתִי בַגּוֹיִם שָׂרָתִי בַּמְּדִינוֹת הָיְתָה לָמַס

How does the once greatly crowded city of Jerusalem now sit alone? She has become without support, like a widow. Great and important among the nations, a princess, ruler, and minister among the states: She has become a vassal, subservient to others! Jerusalem, which was the seat of a great and glorious kingdom, has completely lost its prestige.

בָּכוֹ תִבְכֶּה בַּלַּיְלָה וְדִמְעָתָהּ עַל לֶחֱיָהּ אֵין־לָהּ מְנַחֵם מִכָּל־אֹהֲבֶיהָ כָּל־רֵעֶיהָ בָּגְדוּ בָהּ הָיוּ לָהּ לְאֹיְבִים

She, the helpless widow, Jerusalem, weeps at night, as she is ashamed to weep in the daytime when people can see her, and her tears are on her cheeks. She attempts to hide her tears from the eyes of strangers. Of all her lovers, or political allies, she has no one to comfort her. All her allies have betrayed her; they have become her enemies; all the countries that had friendly relationships with her abandoned her after her downfall.

גָּלְתָה יְהוּדָה מֵעֹנִי וּמֵרֹב עֲבֹדָה הִיא יָשְׁבָה בַגּוֹיִם לֹא מָצְאָה מָנוֹחַ כָּל־רֹדְפֶיהָ הִשִּׂיגוּהָ בֵּין הַמְּצָרִים

Judah has been exiled in affliction and in great enslavement. She has settled among the nations, finding no rest, because all her pursuers, her perpetual enemies, who had borne animosity toward her for generations, have overtaken her. They seized the opportunity to take revenge against her while she was pressed within the straits, narrow areas with no escape routes.

דַּרְכֵי צִיּוֹן אֲבֵלוֹת מִבְּלִי בָּאֵי מוֹעֵד כָּל־שְׁעָרֶיהָ שׁוֹמֵמִין כֹּהֲנֶיהָ נֶאֱנָחִים בְּתוּלֹתֶיהָ נוּגוֹת וְהִיא מַר־לָהּ

In normal times, the roads to Jerusalem were busy, particularly during the pilgrimage festivals when all of Israel would travel there. But now, the ways, the roads, of Zion mourn, they are desolate, without pilgrims to the festival; all her gates are desolate; her priests sigh, as the city is destroyed and the Temple is deserted. Her young women are melancholy, and she is embittered.

הָיוּ צָרֶיהָ לְרֹאשׁ אֹיְבֶיהָ שָׁלוּ כִּי־ה' הוֹגָהּ עַל רֹב פְּשָׁעֶיהָ עוֹלָלֶיהָ הָלְכוּ שְׁבִי לִפְנֵי־צָר

Her besiegers are ascendant, her enemies are tranquil, for the Lord has tormented her for her abundant transgressions; her infants are led into captivity before the besieger, at the time of Yehoyakhin’s exile to Babylonia.

וַיֵּצֵא מִבַּת־צִיּוֹן כָּל־הֲדָרָהּ הָיוּ שָׂרֶיהָ כְּאַיָּלִים לֹא־מָצְאוּ מִרְעֶה וַיֵּלְכוּ בְלֹא־כֹחַ לִפְנֵי רוֹדֵף

All her splendor has gone out of the daughter of Zion. Her free and esteemed princes are hungry and lost, like deer that have not found pasture.They went powerless before the pursuer; they were led into captivity by their new masters.

זָכְרָה יְרוּשָׁלִַם יְמֵי עָנְיָהּ וּמְרוּדֶיהָ כֹּל מַחֲמֻדֶיהָ אֲשֶׁר הָיוּ מִימֵי קֶדֶם בִּנְפֹל עַמָּהּ בְּיַד־צָר וְאֵין עוֹזֵר לָהּ רָאוּהָ צָרִים שָׂחֲקוּ עַל־מִשְׁבַּתֶּהָ

In the days of her affliction and her wretchedness, her suffering, Jerusalem recalled all her delights that were from the days of old. At the moment of her downfall, Jerusalem remembers the good days of yesteryear. With the fall of her people into the hand of the besieger, with no one to help her, the besiegers saw her; they mocked her deficiencies. Even those who did not actively participate in her destruction took pleasure in her downtrodden state.

חֵטְא חָטְאָה יְרוּשָׁלִַם עַל־כֵּן לְנִידָה הָיָתָה כָּל־מְכַבְּדֶיהָ הִזִּילוּהָ כִּי־רָאוּ עֶרְוָתָהּ גַּם־הִיא נֶאֶנְחָה וַתָּשָׁב אָחוֹר

A sin has Jerusalem sinned; therefore she has become a pariah. All who honored her have demeaned her, because they saw her nakedness; her shortcomings and agonies have been exposed to all. Even she herself sighs and has regressed. She has become weak and therefore does not actively respond; instead, she sighs and resigns herself to her misery and desolation.

טֻמְאָתָהּ בְּשׁוּלֶיהָ לֹא זָכְרָה אַחֲרִיתָהּ וַתֵּרֶד פְּלָאִים אֵין מְנַחֵם לָהּ

Her impurity, the blood of her menstruation, is perceptible on the edges of her skirts, the hems of her garment; in other words, her sins are obvious. She had not considered the fact that this would be her end. She has declined extraordinarily, far beyond expectations; there is no one to comfort her. Consequently, the lamenter pleads: See, Lord, my affliction, for the enemy has expanded his power; he acts in Jerusalem as he pleases.

רְאֵה ה' אֶת־עָנְיִי כִּי הִגְדִּיל אוֹיֵב יָדוֹ פָּרַשׂ צָר עַל כָּל־מַחֲמַדֶּיהָ כִּי־רָאֲתָה גוֹיִם בָּאוּ מִקְדָּשָׁהּ אֲשֶׁר צִוִּיתָה לֹא־יָבֹאוּ בַקָּהָל לָךְ

The besieger spread his hand over all her delights, i.e., he has taken them, as she saw the nations entering her Sanctuary, those nations whom You had commanded that they should not enter Your assembly. This is referring to the Amonites and the Moavites, whom the Torah denies even the possibility of conversion to Judaism. The entry of such banned and inferior nations into the Temple is therefore doubly insulting.

כָּל־עַמָּהּ נֶאֱנָחִים מְבַקְשִׁים לֶחֶם נָתְנוּ מַחֲמַדֵּיהֶם בּאֹכֶל לְהָשִׁיב נָפֶשׁ רְאֵה ה' וְהַבִּיטָה כִּי הָיִיתִי זוֹלֵלָה

All her people are sighing, seeking bread during the siege; they have given all their delights, their most valuable items, for food to sustain life. Again the lamenter requests that God look at him, but now his request is in the name of Jerusalem: See, Lord, and look, for I have become abject. Alternatively, the lamenter is saying that the reason people are starving for bread is that in the past the city was full of gluttony.

לוֹא אֲלֵיכֶם כָּל־עֹבְרֵי דֶרֶךְ הַבִּיטוּ וּרְאוּ אִם־יֵשׁ מַכְאוֹב כְּמַכְאֹבִי אֲשֶׁר עוֹלַל לִי אֲשֶׁר הוֹגָה ה' בְּיוֹם חֲרוֹן אַפּוֹ

Desolate Jerusalem now turns to the people who pass through it unheedingly, and expresses its wishes for them: May it not befall you, all wayfarers. Let troubles like mine never befall you. Behold and see: Is there any pain like my pain, which has been done to me, with which the Lord has tormented me on the day of His enflamed wrath?

מִמָּרוֹם שָׁלַח אֵשׁ בְּעַצְמֹתַי וַיִּרְדֶּנָּה פָּרַשׂ רֶשֶׁת לְרַגְלַי הֱשִׁיבַנִי אָחוֹר נְתָנַנִי שֹׁמֵמָה כָּל־הַיּוֹם דָּוָה

From on high He sent fire into my bones, and He crushed them, flattened and destroyed them. He spread a net for my feet, and once I was caught in it, He set me back. He rendered me desolate, suffering, ill and in pain, or, distanced like a menstruating woman, all day.

נִשְׂקַד עֹל פְּשָׁעַי בְּיָדוֹ יִשְׂתָּרְגוּ עָלוּ עַל־צַוָּארִי הִכְשִׁיל כֹּחִי נְתָנַנִי אֲדֹנָי בִּידֵי לֹא־אוּכַל קוּם

The yoke of my transgressions is preserved in His hand; the transgressions are becoming entangled, coming upon my neck like a yoke, sapping my strength. The Lord delivered me into the hands of those against whom I cannot stand.

סִלָּה כָל־אַבִּירַי אֲדֹנָי בְּקִרְבִּי קָרָא עָלַי מוֹעֵד לִשְׁבֹּר בַּחוּרָי גַּת דָּרַךְ אֲדֹנָי לִבְתוּלַת בַּת־יְהוּדָה

The Lord trampled all my mighty in my midst; He proclaimed a festival of many enemies against me in order to break my young men; the Lord has trodden the virgin daughter of Judah, a moniker for the tribe of Judah or the residents of Jerusalem, in a winepress. We have all been trampled like grapes by the enemy, and our blood has been spilled like wine in a winepress.

עַל־אֵלֶּה אֲנִי בוֹכִיָּה עֵינִי עֵינִי יֹרְדָה מַּיִם כִּי־רָחַק מִמֶּנִּי מְנַחֵם מֵשִׁיב נַפְשִׁי הָיוּ בָנַי שׁוֹמֵמִים כִּי גָבַר אוֹיֵב

For these I weep; my eye, my eye sheds water, tears, for a comforter, a king or other savior, restorer of my soul, has grown distant from me. My children have become desolate, with no guide or supporter, because the enemy has prevailed.

פֵּרְשָׂה צִיּוֹן בְּיָדֶיהָ אֵין מְנַחֵם לָהּ צִוָּה ה' לְיַעֲקֹב סְבִיבָיו צָרָיו הָיְתָה יְרוּשָׁלִַם לְנִדָּה בֵּינֵיהֶם

Zion spread her hands as a sign of surrender, defeat, and despair; there was no comforter for her. The Lord has commanded for Jacob that his besiegers surround him from all sides. Jerusalem has become like a pariah among them, even more distanced and disgraced.

צַדִּיק הוּא ה'כִּי פִיהוּ מָרִיתִי שִׁמְעוּ־נָא כָל־הָעַמִּים וּרְאוּ מַכְאֹבִי בְּתוּלֹתַי וּבַחוּרַי הָלְכוּ בַשֶּׁבִי

The lamentation is composed with the mindset of acceptance of God’s sentence: The Lord, who has done all this to us, is righteous; His judgment is correct, for I have defied, transgressed, His word. Hear now all you peoples, what God has done to us, and see my pain: My young women and young men have gone into captivity.

קָרָאתִי לַמְאַהֲבַי הֵמָּה רִמּוּנִי כֹּהֲנַי וּזְקֵנַי בָּעִיר גָּוָעוּ כִּי־בִקְשׁוּ אֹכֶל לָמוֹ וְיָשִׁיבוּ אֶת־נַפְשָׁם

I called to my lovers, those who had presented themselves as my friends and allies, but they deceived me. Meanwhile, my priests and my elders, who are usually sustained by public funds (see 4:16), perished in the city, while they sought food for themselves, as the public did not have the means to support them during the siege; they tried to restore their lives and sustain themselves, but to no avail.

רְאֵה ה' כִּי־צַר־לִי מֵעַי חֳמַרְמָרוּ נֶהְפַּךְ לִבִּי בְּקִרְבִּי כִּי מָרוֹ מָרִיתִי מִחוּץ שִׁכְּלָה־חֶרֶב בַּבַּיִת כַּמָּוֶת

The lamenter again turns to God, and this time he is apparently representing both himself and Jerusalem as one: See, Lord, for I am in distress, my innards burn; my entire body hurts, including my innards. I feel as if my heart is overturned within me, for I have rebelled, transgressed the word of God. Outside, the sword bereaves; in the house, it is like death. Outside the house, people are being killed, but even inside the house, the terror of death is found.

שָׁמְעוּ כִּי נֶאֱנָחָה אָנִי אֵין מְנַחֵם לִי כָּל־אֹיְבַי שָׁמְעוּ רָעָתִי שָׂשׂוּ כִּי אַתָּה עָשִׂיתָ

They heard that I sigh; there is no comforter for me; all my enemies heard of my misfortune, were glad at my misfortune, because You acted. The lamenter now begs: Please, may You bring the day that You proclaimed, and punish them so that they will be like me, with similar suffering to mine.

הֵבֵאתָ יוֹם קָרָאתָ וְיִהְיוּ כָמֹנִי תָּבֹא כָל־רָעָתָם לְפָנֶיךָ וְעוֹלֵל לָמוֹ כַּאֲשֶׁר עוֹלַלְתָּ לִי עַל כָּל־פְּשָׁעָי כִּי־רַבּוֹת אַנְחֹתַי וְלִבִּי דַוָּי

Let all their wickedness, of those who pretended to be my friends and allies, come before You, and do to them as You did to me for all my transgressions, for my sighs are many and my heart is suffering, suffering from pain.